Sunday, April 20, 2014

Finding a good SEO partner

Forbes.com contributor Joshua
Steimle wrote an excellent article, 4 Tips For Hiring The Right SEO Firm,
that might help those in need of this service cut through the fog that shrouds
the overly crowded SEO industry. It is, perhaps, the ultimate irony that anyone
searching the Internet for a company that can help them become more visible on
the Internet, can easily experience confusion and information overload.

My company has used several
SEO firms over the years. Some I would recommend and others I would not. Here
are two that have certainly proven themselves.

Boostability.
After interviewing Boostability’s CEO, and writing an article about
the company, I was impressed enough to sign up as a client. Not having used
them for very long, it’s hard to say what the long-term results will be, but
their attention to detail and service levels have been stellar. Also, they seem
to understand my business. For example, my rep is helping me extend the reach
of my writing beyond Forbes.com, which is a good thing for a writer. So far, so
good.

Mabbly.
After using Mabbly for a while, I saw a relatively quick positive impact. What
I like about Mabbly is the fact that they will work without a long-term
contract. Also, they have a start-up package that is pretty reasonably priced.

Whichever SEO vendors you
select and how choose no matter how you find them, go forward with this
strategy as soon as you can.

Do not be a dinosaur. Be a
teenager and learn to play the game, grow with it and, eventually, you will
become proficient in no time at all.

The rules of social media
change all the time. The plan that works one year might flop the next. The past
year is no exception, as some creative marketers created campaigns that
cemented the importance of some rules, and even changed our thinking about
others.

Here are the best social media
marketing tips to consider from 2013.

1. The Old-Fashioned Guilt Trip

After fighting the #firstworldproblems hashtag in 2012, Water is Life
returned in 2013 with a new campaign daring New Yorkers to drink some of the
city's most polluted water. The campaign, timed to
coincide with World Water Day, was a bit of a guilt trip, but was highly
effective. After filming New Yorkers' reaction shots to the 10 dispensing
locations, they compiled them into a video about the project.

2. Make Em Laugh

Some fast-food social media
campaigns backfired in recent years, either because of poor execution or because people just weren't buying
their claims. Wendy's went for the funny bone instead with #PretzelLoveStories,
a series of videos in which user tweets were turned into mini-telenovelas. No
one criticized because they were too busy laughing!

3. Use Thumbnails

Display ads with graphics do
better than those without"
the same holds true for YouTube videos. Splasheo founder, Gideon Shalwick,
creates a catchy thumbnail for every video he posts. He uses expressive photos,
clear copy, and other thumbnail optimization tips
to grab our attention and get more views than his counterparts.

4. Prepare for the Worst

Since people play a big role
in social media, businesses have relatively little control over their
campaigns. Durex learned this the hard way when its SOS Campaign was marred by pranksters who voted
ultra-conservative Batman, Turkey, the city most in need of rush delivery
service for condoms. The company immediately pulled the campaign.

5. Cater to Content Aggregators

Ever since the fall of Digg
and Delicious, naysayers have been predicting the end of content aggregation
sites. They claim that readers have more loyalty to specific sites and are not
looking for aggregators or RSS readers to collect the content for them "
hence the shutdown of Google Reader. However, others, like social media expert
Drew Hendricks, predict that these sites will only get more
important in the years to come. How do you cater to content aggregators?
Try out new sites as they start generating buzz. If something clicks, add a
social share button to your blog. Encourage your readers to share your content
with a CTA.

6. Be Careful What You Wish For

Customer feedback is always
great, almost. In 2013, numerous corporations launched Q&A campaigns to
increase customer engagement. The results were disastrous, especially for
companies that had been battling negative press. In one case, the comments were
so snarky (earning the title of Snarkpocalypse) that JP Morgan had to pull the campaign hours after launching it.

7. Give the Power Away

Social media has provided a
way for people to share original content with friends and family around the
world. Nikon took advantage of this by giving their cameras to SXSW
attendees and letting them record the musical performances. The
resulting photos and videos generated 166 million social impressions, proving
that sometimes, trusting customers with your message can pay off big time.

8. Leverage Social Media Search Tools

Search engines continue to be
valuable, so we shouldn't be surprised that social media platforms have built
their own. According to Cynthia Sanchez,
writer and Pinterest expert, tools like Graph Search on Facebook and Twitter's
advanced search can help you identify the potential audience on each channel,
or even whether there's an audience to identify.

9. Get Everyone Involved

In order to keep your blog
kicking and your social curation interesting, get everyone involved. In their
2013 eBook Creating a Content Machine,
HubSpot explains the power of giving the ownership of your online success to
all of your employees. They maintain monthly quotas for each department to
contribute blog posts, which are then shared out through their
highly-engaged-with social media outlets.

10. Connect to Timely Stories

A well-timed campaign about a
hot topic can make a big impact. In 2013, as the Supreme Court was hearing cases
involving marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign changed
its blue-and-yellow logo to red and pink. Within 24 hours, the logo had
generated 10 million page views, and over time the HRC attracted thousands of
new Facebook and Twitter followers. And don't get me started on that Oreo Super Bowl tweet.

11. Be Visual

Arment Dietrich CEO, Gini
Dietrich, says, Sixty-five percent of human beings are visual learners. That
means they'd rather look at pictures or watch videos than read text. This means
that a motorcycle lawyer should supplement his blog about
biking laws with the occasional photo or video. A selfie on a Harley would add
a little humor to an otherwise dry post about the law.

12. Don’t Ignore Google+

Although experts never seem to
agree on the next big thing in social media, there's one thing
everyone is talking about: the importance of Google+. Long considered the
wasteland of social sites, it's been picking up over the past year – whether
people really want it to or not. As Google's social network becomes more
intertwined with their search, those who fail to jump on the bandwagon will
likely be left in the dust. At a minimum, be sure to claim your business
listing and add authorship to your company's blog. To get the full benefits of
Google+, however, become an active contributor to grow your following, and be
sure to add authorship to all of your guest contributions.

To keep up with the
ever-changing world of social media, keep these top-ranked tips in mind and
develop your social media presence in a novel, ground-breaking way!

Remember, these rules can
become your most effective weapons to avoid becoming extinct.

About LGO

Logicgateone Corporation is a
full service SEO company based in Subic Bay, Philippines that specializes in
organic Search Engine Optimization.